Analysis of Metabolic Differences in Tibetan Medicinal Plant Phlomoides rotata leaves in Different Habitats Based on Non Targeted Metabolomics

Lele Wang ¹ Hongli Wang ^1,2 Junlin Chen ¹ Lamu Yuzhen ¹ Xiangyang Qi ¹ Lei Lei ¹ Sonam Tso ^1*

• ¹ Tibet University, Lhasa, China
• ² Qinzhou Branch of Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Qinzhou Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Guangxi, China

In order to explore the difference of metabolites in the leaves of Tibetan medicine plant Phlomoides rotata under different environmental conditions, LC-MS technology was used to detect metabolites in the leaves of Phlomoides rotata with different altitude gradients and two slopes in the north and south, and the differential metabolites were screened by multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed that a total of 2331 HMDB annotated metabolites were detected in Phlomoides rotata leaves, and the metabolites accounting for more than 10% were lipids and lipid-like molecules, organic oxygen compounds, phenylpropyl compounds and polyketones, organic acids and their derivatives and organic heterocyclic compounds. Five different metabolites such as proanthocyanidin B2, dihydrocoumarin, prebenzoic acid and m-hydroxyphenylpyruvate were screened in the three altitude gradients, and 17 different metabolites such as 2, 3-Secoporrigenin, 2-O-alpha-D-Galactopyranosyl-1-deoxynojirimycin and xenognosin A were screened in the two north-south gradients. According to the KEGG pathway enrichment results of differential metabolites, differential metabolites at different altitudes are mainly distributed in 7 pathways including Flavonoid biosynthesis, Pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, and Monobactam biosynthesis. Differential metabolites in the north-south slope direction are mainly distributed in 11 pathways including glycerophospholipid metabolism, flavonoid biosynthesis, and galactose metabolism. This study indicates that the leaves of Phlomoides rotata contain abundant secondary metabolites. The research results can provide theoretical basis for the differentiation of Phlomoides rotata quality and its pharmacological functions for planting and quality control at different altitudes and slopes.